Category Archives: iPod Nano

One Reddit user has brought up a good point. The famous click wheel, which you will find on almost all iPod models besides the shuffle and the touch, could potentially be a great addition for the rumored Apple iWatch. With the iWatch possibly being round in shape, a click wheel would be a great, intuitive mode of controlling the device, and would mean the rebirth of one of Apple’s most iconic inventions. (more…)

Amazingly, there are now kids in middle school young enough to have never personally owned one of the classic iPods. They’re probably familiar with what an iPod is and, of course, they’ve seen an iPod touch, but they’ve probably never owned an iPod nano nor one of the old “video” hard-drive iPods… (more…)

iMore’s Peter Cohen has wrote an interesting article that debates if Apple has a branding problem. Why do people get the idea of calling an iPod touch an “iTouch,” but not an iPod Shuffle an “iShuffle”? Why is the iPhone 5 often truncated to “i5,” and likewise with MacBook Pros often called “Mac Pros”?

And more often than not, it’s about the “i5.” Not the iPhone 5, just the “i5.” Sometimes they’ll have an “i4″ that they’ll need help with. Sometimes the appellations get even more meaningless. Someone asking about an “iTouch 5″ might mean an iPhone 5 or an iPod touch fifth generation. Or they might just be confused.

Late last week, AllThingsD — reported that Apple’s next iPhone will be unveiled on September 10th. Two days before Apple’s previous announcement of the iPhone 5 last year. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed from Apple. Respected journalist Jim Dalrymple of The Loopconfirmed the rumor with his signature “yep”. As if straight from the horse’s mouth. Here’s how I think the event will play out on Apple’s big day. (more…)

Apple has always had fun with the iPod nano, constantly changing the design of the portable media player over the years. The company never seems to make up their minds just yet when it comes how the device should look. More recently in the refresh cycle, Apple launched the sixth-generation iPod nano. The device was similar to an iPod Shuffle in some areas, but not quite in others.

And while it has since been outdated by the seventh-generation model, I think of it as the most important iPod nano generation. This new device featured a 1.55-inch touch screen with a clock application that had a useful “Time on Wake” feature. When enabled, the device would wake up to the clock. Behold, the “iWatch” idea was born. (more…)

As a testament to how far Apple has come since approaching bankruptcy just prior to the millennium, cumulative iPhone sales will soon pass the number of iPods sold since the portable media player was introduced in 2001. To put that in perspective, the iPhone wasn’t released until six years later.

Apple will announce its third quarter financial results on Tuesday, July 23, and it is expected that the number of iPhone sales will be enough for the handset to eclipse the iPod in terms of lifetime units sold. While it still accumulates millions of dollars in revenues, the iPod has been declining in units sold for several consecutive quarters. (more…)

The iPod nano was once the entry-level music device that almost everyone owned. It was really the start of Apple’s true reign over the portable music player industry, and it came at a price point that was attractive and viable for even the poorest of teenagers. Amazingly, Apple introduced the device’s seventh generation in September of last year, moving it back from being watch-like to the more standard stick-like design of its earlier generations.

Sadly, though, I’ve only seen one of these in person. Just one. The majority of people, in my age group at least, own an iPhone as their primary handset. If they don’t, they’ve likely purchased an iPod touch to be their entry into the iOS ecosystem. If you have either of these devices, you really have no use for a similar albeit smaller device that does less. But that doesn’t mean no one has them, I’m sure many younger than me own an iPod nano much like I did at their age.

iFans forum member Fearnz is one who actually owns one of these rare devices and says “I use it daily and I love it.” Do you own one too? Head over to the forums and have your say.

Apple’s 30-pin dock connector was, for nearly a decade, one of the most popular connection mediums in computing. While it was technically something that Apple controlled – albeit in more of a legal than technological way – it was easy for many manufacturers to create cheap accessories that would be compatible with iPods, and later iPhones and iPads.

The Lightning connector that ships on the iPhone 5, latest iPod touch, iPad mini, and the newest iPad gives Apple even more control over the accessory market. Ross Howe, VP of Marketing for Mophie, one of the more popular producers of iPhone battery cases, spoke today with The New York Times to shed some light on the newer methods that Apple is using to control the accessory market and, the reasoning goes, provide a better experience for all users: (more…)

One of the most criticized aspects of the iPhone 5 and newest iPad was the fact that Apple eschewed the traditional 30-pin dock connector and decided to move to an even more locked-down Lightning connector. While all new devices come with one cable in order to set them up and charge them, many people use multiple cables: one for charging, one for syncing, and one for connecting the device to peripheral accessories.

Apple currently charges $20 for a Lightning cable. That’s quite a bit of money – and it’s probably almost pure profit for the Cupertino company. Up until this point, Apple’s certification chip had kept other manufacturers from replicating the cable and then selling it for less. However, cheaper cables have been popping up across the internet.

Apple’s exclusive deal to license liquid metal, a metal alloy that allows for incredibly light and malleable designs, has been put under intense interest as the Cupertino company continues to expand its mobile product portfolio.

Today, engineering students demoed a prototype of a set of earbuds that make use of the technology. In addition to being incredibly lightweight (but, honestly, weight isn’t a widespread problem for headphones), the prototype model can stretch to incredible lengths. According to the researchers, the liquidmetal cable can stretch to eight times the original length.

The video is certainly worth a watch, though it doesn’t go in to depth about the process. Still, it’s obvious that this liquidmetal technology has various potential applications. So far, Apple has only used the liquidmetal rights in one product: the SIM card ejector tray that ships with every iPhone and 3G/4G-enabled iPad models.

Future designs will hopefully use liquidmetal as the capacity to manufacture it in large quantities increases.